This copy is for your personal non-commercial use only. To order presentation-ready copies of Toronto Star content for distribution to colleagues, clients or customers, or inquire about permissions/licensing, please go to: www.TorontoStarReprints.com

Dozens of Egyptian photojournalists take part in a demonstration in Cairo in March 2013 to condemn violence against them and to defend their right to cover the news. (Khaled Dessouki / The Associated Press File Photo)

By Maggie MichaelThe Associated Press

Tues., Jan. 28, 2014

CAIRO—An Egyptian photojournalist was killed, three were wounded with gunfire and six were arrested while covering the third anniversary of the start of the country’s uprising that ousted longtime autocrat Hosni Mubarak, their union said Tuesday.

While many Egyptians marked the day with celebration, violence marred demonstrations held by supporters of the ousted Islamist president as security forces fired tear gas and live ammunition to break up crowds. Dozens of people were killed in clashes.

Hossam Diab of the Egyptian Photojournalist Society told The Associated Press that freelancer Mohamed Helmy was shot dead while working for Qatar-based satellite broadcaster Al Jazeera. Mohammed Fahmy, a photojournalist working for the centre-right Wafd party newspaper, was shot in the face and underwent surgery to rebuild his mouth, Diab added.

Shootings and arrests were also intense at small gatherings held by secular youth activists who had led the 2011 anti-Mubarak uprising and are critical of both Islamists and the military, which assumed power and installed a civilian government after the coup against Mohammed Morsi.

The day also witnessed a rise of mob attacks on journalists, especially foreign ones.

Article Continued Below

More than a dozen journalists were beaten by demonstrators or detained by police for protection from angry crowds. Demonstrators at a pro-military rally attacked one female Egyptian journalist, mistakenly believing she worked for Al Jazeera, which authorities consider biased toward Morsi’s Muslim Brotherhood.

Since Morsi’s overthrow last July, at least five journalists have been killed, 45 assaulted, and 11 news outlets raided, according to the Committee to Protect Journalists. The New York-based group also reported that at least 44 journalists have been detained “without charge in pretrial procedures, which, at times, have gone on for months.”

Three journalists working for Al Jazeera’s English channel have also been held since Dec. 29, with one of them — Egyptian-Canadian Mohamed Fahmy — spending long hours in solitary confinement. Authorities initially accused them of being part of a terrorist group, referring to the Brotherhood, and spreading false news about Egypt. They have yet to be formally charged.

Assaults on journalists have been on the rise over the past three years of tumult. Egypt has seen the ouster of two presidents, the rise and fall of the Islamists, and the return of the military to politics with the near-certain nomination of army chief Abdel Fattah el-Sissi in upcoming presidential elections.

More from the Toronto Star & Partners

LOADING

Copyright owned or licensed by Toronto Star Newspapers Limited. All rights reserved. Republication or distribution of this content is expressly prohibited without the prior written consent of Toronto Star Newspapers Limited and/or its licensors. To order copies of Toronto Star articles, please go to: www.TorontoStarReprints.com